Monday 15 September 2008

Days Like These

Once again I am cramming for a job interview. This one means so much to me that I am not going to say anything revealing about it here in case I don’t get the job and have to act casual and ‘oh well, I was just doing it for a lark..’ about it. However I will say that there is a lot of reading matter…people study for years and still only skim the surface of this stuff.
Intriguing eh?

I have been missing my old buddy Teelo these last few weeks. I especially wanted to tell him about this potential job. It is coming up to year since his death and it is beginning to sink in that we are never going to chew the fat about Obama, beer prices, parties we crashed, dance competitions we won…’the muzungu and the point five’. (White chick and mixed race Rasta). Other friends feel it too. We keen but quietly by email. I still have his last two texts on my phone.

This is Teelo and me and a bunch of impala in Ndola on a film recce in 2000. NB Castle and Mosi


Och well and aye and on we go and all that. Well not if you are a banker. H’oh nope Not if you are hedge fund manager. Mr. Pool your loot and leg it.

What on earth was Old Mugabe banging on about today? God he is one mean old sod – desperately wanting to say he had been coerced into the handshake by the colonial bastards and the enemies within but Mbeki kept giving him Chinese burns so he had to attempt enthusiasm… old goat but still with a scorpion sting (to mix animal metaphors). The heckles were louder but still long distance. No one quite sure how close they can get yet. Inflation in Zimbabwe at 30 million and now the credit grinding (I would say ‘crunching’ but then it sounds like a breakfast cereal) that will start to wilt the ability of the Diaspora to send money home. This is going to affect everyone Africa wide. There are hundreds of thousands of people absolutely dependent on families sending money home. That and food prices exponentially rising and … (I can hear my cousin now. She is yelling ‘ First off you said no talk of death for a while and two, stop with the gloom.always the gloom!’ Quit it!’ She is a New Yorker you know.)

So instead I am trying to unpick a misplaced belt loop from this dress I want to wear on Wednesday. I thought I’d go sombre and classic..but with Big Hair. I know..I should be brushing up on my interview technique but I am worried about the shoes…

Ohhhhhh wish me charm, wit, resourcefulness and the ability to articulate even under stress, to NOT walk into anything too obviously and to engage and enjoy…but most of all wish me luck!

Will let you know how it goes!

10 comments:

tam said...

oh good luck good luck. Just be you, i know its a cliche but if its a fit it'll get you there. That is a great pic of Teelo. You know me, i'm always up for a bit of gloom. But lets just pray this bloody power sharing plan will work. Its better than what was, surely? Good luck again. Will think of ya.

Miranda said...

Ah Tanvi good luck good luck! You got my e-mail I hope (is it the very interview?). Just found out my msg haven't been getting through so let me know....
I can't believe it's almost a year since Teelo died. Great pic of him.
Thinking of you and crossing fingers, holding thumbs or whatever it is one does.

Val said...

hey good luck too from the blogosphere :-) sure we are all rooting for you on wednesday. dont wear shoes that pinch - or maybe you should so you forget to be anxious about the interview???there is a theory bout that i think.
yes saw bites of mugabes diatribe.... or magoobee as one SABC news reader put it. Mr Magoobee. if only he was funny

anyway stay focussed and best of luck :-)

Chimera said...

Thanks Tam, Val, Miranda!
Focus focus...
I did get the email and had a good scour of the website, thank very much1
More soon,
T

Anonymous said...

Good luck with the job interview!! I came via the black box and will stay and look around for a while.

I'm sorry about your friend Teelo. I can't see the pic for some reason, but maybe I'll try later and have more luck.

timothymarcjones said...

Frankie, Stankie, and me will have a drumming session in the garden for you tomorrow. May the Force be with you.

Suzie said...

Go gt me kid youll be great!

tinku said...

As we say in these here parts, go kick some ass!

tinku said...

Or more appropros for you: Go hit a home run! ha ha

Reya Mellicker said...

Keeping my fingers crossed for you! If the people who make the decision are smart, they will hire you as soon as possible!

Mugabe is a mean old sod. Well put.

So sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. You know I continue to talk to the people I love, even after they die. I've been talking to my mother about Obama for months. (She died in 1983.)

Good luck!!